


Cute Knights

by YayaSamuko



Category: Love Live! School Idol Project
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2018-11-04 10:38:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10989225
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YayaSamuko/pseuds/YayaSamuko
Summary: Kousaka Honoka is just a ‘normal’ peasant girl if it wasn’t the fact that she has a great liking in swords. One day, the fate smiled at her and her boring life would give place to a lot more exciting one. [HonoMaki, NozoNico, EliRin, KotoPana, AliUmi, TsubaYuki and EreAnju]





	1. S.T.A.R.T.

_It was a normal spring day in the powerful kingdom of Otonokizaka. Farmers and such were working on their fields if not trying to sell their products at the local market. Like everyday, it was a busy one._

_Meanwhile, two young girls were playing near the river, not too far, but not close enough to that big agglomeration._

_“Here I go!” the girl with shoulder-length ginger hair and blue eyes charged at full force, a wooden sword in hand._

_“Bring it on!” the other girl whose hair was long and deep blue sea with golden eyes, took a defensive position by wielding her wooden saber with both hands._

_The shorter girl tried a slash first, but her friend managed to block it. Seeing that her attack failed, the ginger jumped back as the taller one attempted to stab her. The blue-eyed girl was agile enough to jump at the side and barely managed to avoid the attack._

_Both of them jumped back before charging once again. This time, it was the bluenette who went on the offensive. She tackled the younger girl who fell on the ground and was about to slash her, but the ginger was quick enough to block the attack by wielding her own sword at her head’s level._

_The taller girl didn’t let go yet as she reattempted 5 more times to slash the blocking sword until the girl at the bottom finally managed to push her back. The ginger took the opportunity to stand up at a hyper fast speed and jumped at her friend, hitting her on the left shoulder._

_They both backed down and bowed at each other. “Good job, Honoka!” the bluenette started. “You’ve improved once again._

_“Hehe…” the ginger scratched the back of her neck. “It’s all thanks to lady Umi for helping me train everyday.”_

_The taller girl just smiled before whipping some dusts from her expensive-looking one-piece green dress. “It’s alright to drop the honorifics since we are all alone now.”_

_“But…” Honoka switched into a more serious tone. “It would get troublesome if someone hear us. Since we are already illegally training in secret behind their back… I doubt they would be happy with that.”_

_What she meant by ‘them’ were their parents. Umi was the daughter of the duke. Therefore, she was forbidden to learn about sword wielding. Her father was a really strict person who hated any appeal to physical violence. That was why he forbids Umi to learn how to fight even though she really wanted to be a knight._

_Honoka, on the other hand was the daughter of a farmer. Due to her family’s financial problems, she couldn’t afford study courses and tools. The ginger has always wanted to be a knight herself and trained in secret since her 14s._

_The two of them first met accidentally when both were secretly training. They talked a lot and ended up being friends and helped each other to practice._

_They were now 16 and both have got better at their sword skill. Umi’s biggest dream is to become a general in order to have more authority over the kingdom and to lead it toward the development. She wanted to eradicate the increasing numbers of lawbreakers._

_Honoka on the other hand just dreamed of adventure. She didn’t want to stay at a place really long. She wanted to travel around the world, to see different kind of people, to make people smile, to save people in need and to try different kind of bread from different kingdoms._

_“I guess it will be all for today.” The bluenette carefully hid her wooden saber under a carpet of leaves._

_The ginger soon followed and both of them walked their separate way. While the taller girl hurried to her family’s mansion at the eastern part of the town; Honoka made her way to their house that was at the center, at the marketplace to be more accurate._

[-x-x-x-]

“Honoka… Honoka…”

A pair of baby blue eyes slowly opened as a soft voice was calling for their owners. The ginger-haired young girl who seemed like in her 19s stirred away from her slumber and pushed her back up so she was sitting at the edge of her bed. She rubbed her eyes few times before turning to the purple-haired older girl. “Good morning, Nozomi!”

“Morning, Honoka!” The purple-haired girl who was wearing a purple mage robe in addition with a green cape and red shoes smiled. “We have to hurry up! The boss said that she found a mission for us.”

“I… see…”

With that, the ginger stood up before walking toward the closet as Nozomi walked out of their large room – that was mostly composed of two beds, a desk, a big closet, few chairs and few books placed on a shelve at the side. She took her baggy T-shirt – that used to serve as her pajama – off and changed into her usual uniform: A leather body suit over cloth T-shirt and short, a belt where her sword was placed, a pair of leather boots and a silver breastplate.

After she was done changing, Honoka turned one last time inside the room and smiled to herself as she saw her messy bed. Seeing such thing reminded her of the dream she had. _“Lady Umi… I wonder how she is doing. That was a while since I last saw her.”_

Honoka snapped these thought away and decided to focus on the actual task. She ran toward the exit door, grabbed her favorite headband and ran out of the room. As soon as she was in the hallway, she was greeted by many maidens – some were clad in armor while others were wearing magic user attire. It didn’t take her that long to arrive at their boss’ office and she knocked few times at the door.

“Come in!” A voice from the other side replied.

The ginger pushed the door open and stepped inside the large near-empty room except for a huge table at the center and 4 girls gathered around it. After bowing her head at the other occupants, Honoka stepped closer and took place across the boss of their guild.

“I am glad to see you arrive in time, Miss Honoka!” The brown-haired woman who was clad in a red-and-blue armor smiled. “We got a request earlier. The requester’s identity is unknown and the person wants us to investigate at the western woods.”

“The western woods?” The ginger questioned aloud.

“Actually,” the orange-haired maiden who was wearing a green magical-looking dress crossed her arms, “there is actually a rumor about a dragon living there.”

“Some passer-by affirmed having seen it several time.” The dark-red-haired girl clad in a silvery armor continued. “Apparently, the dragon is guarding a certain area of said forest. According to our source, there is actually an abandoned castle inside that area.”

“And on top of that,” Nozomi continued, “there is a rumor about the princess of the nearby kingdom – Nishikino – who has gone missing just as that dragon has started to appear.”

“I see…” Honoka placed a finger on her chin. “So, you think that dragon has anything to do with the missing princess?”

The brunette whose name was Tsubasa shook her head. “We can’t affirm anything yet, but we will take that request and investigate the area. However, I don’t think you have to engage against the dragon. Our mission is just to resolve the mystery and not to fight.”

The boss placed a huge map on the table and the other guild members leaned to have a better view. She pointed at a green area near the kingdom of Otonokizaka’s capital.

“If you depart now, you will get before the sun settles.” Tsubasa explained. “You will have to pass by the town of Nyaa however.”

“The town of Nyaa?” Nozomi questioned. “Isn’t that actually the town of cat-men? I heard that most of them actually hated humans. I highly doubt that they will just let us through.”

This time, the knight in silvery armor – also known as Erena – shook her head. “You don’t have to worry about it! We took care of everything!” She took two small cards from her pocket and handed them to Honoka and Nozomi. “If you have these pass constantly on you, they will let you through without any problem. However, they will only allow you to pass the town. Do not expect anyone to accept or talk to you.”

“I see…” Both the fortuneteller and the swordswoman took the cards. “Any more info?” The older of the two assigned girl asked.

The magic user Anju placed her elbows on the table and smiled at the two. “That will be all!”

With that, Nozomi and Honoka stood up, bowed at the three girls and walked out of the room. As they were out of sign, Erena let out of a sigh. “Tsubasa, are you really sure about this?”

“What is it?” the boss turned to her.

“Don’t you think that sending only the two of them is reckless? I mean, this is an A-ranked mission after all… plus, making them to pass through the cat-men territory…”

Anju let out of some giggles that caught the two other’s attention. “You don’t have to worry that much! I am sure that these two will be fine.”

“If you say so…” The young knight let go of another sigh before lifting her head until her vision met with the ceiling.

[-x-x-x-]

The sun was high in the sky as two figures were walking the deserted plains. The fortuneteller, now clad in a dark-blue dress under her purple robe in addition to her knee-length stockings was leading the way while the swordswoman whose leather armor was composed of a short-sleeve coat and pant over the cotton T-shirt and short.

It became hotter after few hours of walk and the two soon found themselves sitting at the shadow of a tree. The older of the two took a bottle of water from her handbag and handed it to her companion. “Here you go!”

Honoka happily accepted the offer and drank part of it before giving it back to her friend. “Thank you, Nozomi!”

The two sat there for a couple of minutes before they finally decided to resume their quest. After another hour of walking, they arrived at the end of the field of grass and were now in front of a road. That didn’t stop them as they continued moving forward, only to be stopped by a group of 4 men few meters later.

“Hey, young ladies, want to pick a drink with us?” The first punk smirked.

Honoka just smiled as she placed a hand on her sword’s handle. “You dogs do not even deserve to talk to us.”

The second bandit got irritated at that comment. “What the…? So, you want to pick a fight with us?” He swung his axe and charged directly toward the ginger… only to get a hard kick on the stomach.

The man fell on his knees as he held his stomach that was in pain. He didn’t see that hit coming and never thought that one kick would cause that much damage.

“Bro!” The third brigand picked his axe as well and this time decided to charge at Nozomi. Unfortunately foe him, the fortuneteller easily evaded the first attack. After seeing his first attempt has failed, the bandit swung his weapon once again, but Nozomi could easily avoid it. This time however, the magic user clenched her fist before landing a firm punch on the man’s face, making him lose several teeth as he fell on the floor, unconscious.

“What the…?” The enemy boss’ eyes widened and were soon replaced by anger. He swung his long sword and pointed it at Honoka. “I’m going to make you pay for that!” He charged and attempted to slash the younger girl. The swordswoman just smiled as she took her sword off of her belt and used it to block the enemy’s attack. The man backed away as he saw that the young girl didn’t even budge from the force behind his attack. “Who the hell are you?”

A smile appeared on Nozomi’s face as she stepped beside her companion. “We…” she reached for her glove and took it off, revealing a pink mark while Honoka slid her armor’s sleeve, revealing the same mark on her elbow.

The fourth brigand’s eyes widened as he knew what that mark meant. “B-boss… L-let’s get out of here! These people are dangerous.”

The chief just laughed at that comment. “Don’t be such an idiot! They were just lucky, that’s all!” He took his sword with both hands. “Just you look while I give them a show of my real power.” Flames started to wrap around his sword and he grinned. “Surprised? It took me a while to master it, but I can enchant my weapon. Now, taste my rage!”

As the man was charging forward, neither Honoka nor Nozomi were surprised as they just smiled like before. Once again, the ginger grabbed her sword and this time started running forward toward the opponent. Just as the two were about to meet, the young girl swung her sword and a bright light emerged from it. The second later, the bandit was lying unconscious on the ground, his sword in piece.

The last standing punk who has witnessed everything backed away, but fell on the ground from fear. He just watched in horror as Nozomi walked closer to him. He closed his eyes tight, anticipating an imminent death, but felt nothing and opened up his eyes once again to see that he was wrapped by ropes alongside his companions. “W-what the…?”

The fortuneteller just grinned as she turned away and the two heroines resumed their walking. Before they were out of sigh though, the purple-haired girl turned one last time. “The royal knights will be there soon, so better enjoy your remaining time as free people!” After saying that, she turned away once again and the two were soon out of view.

The bandit let go of a defeat sigh. “As free people my ass! We are tied up like meat.”

[-x-x-x-]

The two young guild members arrived in front of a large gate, long, imposing and tall walls at the right and left. They stopped as a figure walked in their direction. It was a bald man with imposing figure, but with cat ears at the top of his head and a tail in addition. “What do you two humans want?”

Nozomi took one step forward and took the cards that Erena gave them before showing them to the guard. The man just nodded as he turned away and started walking toward the now open gate. The two girls took it as a clue to follow him.

As soon as they entered the town, Honoka couldn’t help but to awe at the sign; tall buildings, lot of people with cat ears, and a festive atmosphere. They continued following the man further inside the town and couldn’t help but to somehow feel uncomfortably by the glares that some cat-men were giving them.

They soon arrived closer to another gate and the man stepped aside, gesturing them to get past it. The two girls bowed at him without saying any other word and were about to get out of the town if it wasn’t for a fast shadowy figure who passed near Honoka, grabbing her bag in the process. The person – who was seemingly a cat-man because of its cat ear and tail – was wearing a dark ninja outfit and ran toward the exit.

Just like led by impulse, the ginger ran after the culprit. “Hey, give it back!”

Nozomi, seeing this, decided to run after her companion as well toward the exit. As soon as they were out though, the gate closed down, leaving them the only choice to move forward.

Honoka ran faster and soon arrived at a forest while chasing after the shady person. She soon found herself lost and turned around to realize that she got separated from her friend. She let go of a sigh. “Jeez… Who was that person? But most of all, I have to find Nozomi first.”

Meanwhile, the fortuneteller was inside the forest as well and has started looking for the ginger. However, the fact that she couldn’t sense her presence nearby was a problem since the woods they were in was famous for its high composition in anti-magic materials. “Honoka, where are you?” There was no response.

After about half an hour of looking around though, the two finally met up with each other and couldn’t help but to let go of a pair of sigh of relief as a mist started to form around the forest. But just as they were about to look for an exit, they heard a scream coming from nearby. They nodded at each other and ran toward the source of the scream… only to meet up with the thief from earlier being attacked by a dragon.

Honoka was surprised since it was the first time she saw a dragon for real. Its dark scales and rough wing alongside his bloody crimson red eyes were intimidating enough to scare any idiot who would want to defy it. Its tail smashed the ground, which caused a slight earthquake before it started breathing out fire.

Fortunately for the person wearing dark clothes, the dragon only used that attack as a warning. The person’s suit’s hood fell down, revealing a very you face, her pair of green-yellow eyes shacking from fear. The ginger finally returned into her sense as she saw that the young cat-girl has dropped the bag she was holding, alongside a small red gem.

The dragon’s eyes fell upon the item and crawled forward as the cat-girl stepped back while shaking like a leaf. Fortunately for her, the dragon only decided to grab the jewel in between its finger and flew away.

Just as the young orange-haired cat-girl was about to let go of a sigh, she felt someone’s hand on her shoulder and turned around to see a smirk on Nozomi’s face. She gulped as she recognized the face of the people she pick-pocketed earlier. “Nya…”

“There, there!” The fortuneteller moved beside the girl and grabbed her chest from behind. “Bad girls have to be punished, you know!”

As the cat-girl was fighting while screaming because of Nozomi’s ‘torture’, Honoka took the opportunity to pick her bag back. After making sure that nothing was missing, she smiled at her friend. “It’s fine, Nozomi!”

Said mage let go of the cat-girl who instantly fell on her knees. The orange-haired ninja lifted her head to watch at the two with teary eyes. “Please do not kill Rin! Rin just wanted to play a prank.”

“A prank?” Nozomi raised an eyebrow, which soon was followed by an evil smirk on her face, scaring the hell out of the younger numan – which is also a way of calling people that are half-human, half-creature.

“Rin is sorry!” The young ninja whose name was apparently Rin bowed. “Rin will pay you back, so please don’t hurt Rin.”

“Is that so~” The fortuneteller smirked again. Honoka let go of a sigh, knowing what was coming next from her friend’s mouth. “Then, pay us two kilo of meat!”

“Nya…” The young numan facepalmed from hearing that, “But Rin is broken now…” She took a small wallet from her pocket and showed the other how empty it was.

“In that case~” Nozomi put her hands high as a sign of ready to ‘punish’ the ninja. Rin took one step back, covering her chest area.

After deciding it was enough, Honoka finally cleared her throat to gather the other two’s attention. “I am sorry to disturb your little game, but we are still on a mission, should I remind. We still have to investigate more about that dragon and about the missing princess of Nishikino Kingdom.”

Nozomi just let out of some giggles as she slightly fixated her dress by whipping some dusts from it. “To think that Honoka is the voice of reason for a change…” She smiled at her younger partner and was about to start away if it wasn’t for Rin who grabbed her robe’s sleeve. She turned around to meet with a pair of teary yellow orbs. “It’s fine! We forgive you!” The girl’s face lit up at these words. “But you have to promise us that you will never do a prank like that again.”

“Rin promise!” The numan’s smile widened. “As to thank you, Rin will help you on your mission.” That caught both Honoka and Nozomi’s attention as the two turned at her in anticipation. “Actually, Rin has been playing around this forest since childhood, so Rin knows a lot about the abandoned castle… That was until that dragon appeared.”

“Talking about dragon,” The swordswoman asked, “how come you were chased by it? I heard that it only attack people who get too close to the abandoned castle of take something that it possessed.” It too Honoka few seconds to put all the pieces of the puzzle together and she was able to reply to her own question. “Ah… so, that red gem was actually its possession.”

Rin just laughed nervously while rubbing the back of her head. Nozomi found it really cute and couldn’t help but to hug the girl, suffocating her in the fortuneteller’s cleavage. The cat-girl gasped for air and Honoka somehow felt sorry for their new companion since she have already experienced something like that.

[-x-x-x-]

“Here we are!” Rin happily said as the trio walked into what seemed like a clearer spot where instead of grass and tall tree was a gigantesque abandoned castle. Its walls were in ruin just like the doors and windows were missing.

“Wow…” Honoka took few steps forward. “I had no idea that such thing like this existed in this world.” She placed her hand on her bag and took a bread from it before chewing it down.

Nozomi chuckled at the two other’s reaction. “Shall we get closer in that case?” The others nodded.

As soon as they reached the huge gate, though, they heard a heavy roar that they had to cover their ears. Soon after, the dragon from earlier fell down from the sky and arrived in front of them. It didn’t seem happy or friendly toward them as it started roaring once again.

Rin started to shake once again and thought about the possibilities of fleeing, but Honoka didn’t feel impressed at all as she took her weapon out and wielded it with both hand. _“I bet this dragon is tough! I think it will be a good training for us!”_

Said dragon saw the determination on the ginger’s eyes and decided to be the one giving the first hit. It swung its hand and Honoka had to jump backward to avoid it. Meanwhile, Nozomi joined her hands together and was chanting something. _“I know that it is not necessary for us to fight, but to the point where we are, we don’t have any other choice.”_ A magic circle appeared on the ground surrounding her and fire started to envelope her body. Rin just awed at that.

Just as Honoka was about to charge at the creature, it started breathing fire out. Fortunately for her, her companion stood in between them and somehow absorbed the incoming flames. “Thank you, Nozomi!”

The swordswoman resumed her attack by running at the side while Nozomi went at the other one. The two were about to hit at the same time, but the dragon spread its wings to block both attacks. Right at that time Rin somehow managed to run forward toward the dragon’s frond and took dual knifes from her pocket. She jumped high and landed a heavy hit in the middle of its horn… only to be pushed back as the creature head-bucked her.

As the numan stood up, she saw her two companions lying on the floor as well just as she saw that the dark dragon was intact even after their combined attack. “It can’t be…”

Fortunately, both the swordswoman and the fortuneteller were quick to stand up once again and they nodded at each other before attempting another charge from three directions. The dragon readied itself, but as it was about to breathe fire at Honoka, said girl disappeared, only to appear on its back. The ginger slashed the dragon, but because of its heavy and tough scale, it had no effect. However, the swordswoman tried another attempt, but this time, her sword began to glow in a pink light.

The dragon was enveloped by pink light and was binded by chains that just appeared after Honoka’s technique. Booth Nozomi and Rin took the opportunity to charge forward. As the fortuneteller placed her hand on the dragon’s head and chanted something, the cat-girl ran beside Honoka and chanted something as well. A bright light appeared around the party and the dark creature was soon lying on the ground, half-unconscious and exhausted, just like the three girls who were panting heavily.

“That’s enough!” A voice could be heard. Soon later, a small figure started walking in their direction from the castled. As it came closer to reveal a red-haired girl with violet hair, wearing a pink princess dress and high heels, the fortuneteller awed.

“Y-you are the princess Maki of the Nishikino Kingdom, right?”

The red-head didn’t reply and instead moved beside the dragon before placing a hand on its wing. Soon, a bright light enveloped the creature’s body. When the light died down, the dragon was already on its feet, its energy renewed. Honoka, Rin and Nozomi were surprised and scared at that spectacle.

 _“No way!”_ Rin thought.

 _“That technique…”_ The fortuneteller clenched her teeth. _“I am sure it’s the royal family’s secret spell transmitted by generation to generation.”_

Honoka was the first to stand up as she grabbed her sword once again, pointing it toward the opponents. “Please stand back, princess! We will take care of the dragon for now. Stay assured that we will bring you home safely.”

Maki gave them an annoyed look. “As if…” That caught the other’s attention. “I don’t want to get back to the Kingdom. I am staying here because I want it and not because the dragon forced me to.”

“But why is that?” Rin asked. “Don’t you have everything someone would dream for; a luxurious castle, pretty clothes, caring parents?”

The princess looked down. “You don’t get anything. I don’t want anything of these. I just want to live a normal life. Like others, I want to discover the mysteries of this world and not being trapped in between four walls all day long.”

The dragon’s facial expression softened, just like Nozomi’s. “So, that’s why…”

Meanwhile, Honoka was looking down after she placed back her sword on her belt. There was an awkward silence in the group for few minutes before the ginger broke it. “In that case…” She lifted her head to give the red-head a bright smile. “How about you join us?”

“Pardon?” Maki, Nozomi, Rin and the dragon were taken aback by that proposition.

“I mean, we are actually members of a guild and our missions are to discover secrets behind the horizons and to fight unknown foes. We live an exciting adventure each day.” She walked closer and offered her hand, despite the nasty look the dragon was giving her. “Having more companions wouldn’t hurt, so Maki; don’t you want to join our little team.”

The princess’ face turned slightly redder and she started playing with a strand of her hair. “I-it’s not like I really want or any thing but… I guess I could try for a trial time.”

Honoka’s smile widened once again and out of nowhere took the princess in a hug. While Maki’s face went of the reddest possible color as she tried to push the ginger away, Nozomi and Rin were faceplming while the dragon started to growl. The swordswoman finally separated, only to see a death glare from the dragon.

“Nico…” Maki called for her companion. “You can return into your original form now. There is no use to fight anymore for now.”

After letting go of a sigh, the dragon started to glow and was second later transformed into a little girl with long raven hair attached in a pair of tail, matching her ruby red eyes. She was wearing a brown dress with black shoes and high knees stockings… but what really made her stand up were the pair of black wings on her back alongside a skinny tail and the pair of horn on the top of her head. “Jeez… And I wanted to fight a little more. I have to admit that it is very rare to find someone who can last more than five minutes fighting against me in my dragon form.”

“A manakete?” Honoka wondered.

Rin was confused. “A what?”

“A manakete is actually numan beings who can turn into dragons.” Maki explained. “There is actually a myth that once upon a time, every numans could turn into powerful creatures, but their power was sealed during a war that occurred thousand year ago. Only the manakete managed to maintain that power. Unfortunately, the humans soon categorized them as dangerous creatures years later and started tracking them down and now they are as rare as interesting books at the library.”

“Wow, Maki!” Honoka watched at her with stars in her eyes. “You know a lot, don’t you?”

Another deep blush appeared on the red-head’s face as she looked away. “I-it’s just common knowledge!”

Meanwhile, Nico was giving them a nasty look and was about to step between the two if it wasn’t for Nozomi who grabbed her from behind, rubbing their cheeks together, the older girl’s breasts against Nico’s back. “Nico is so cute~”

“Hey!” The shorter numan tried to fight back. “Let go of me, you boob demon!” Unfortunately, her words fell on deaf ears as the fortuneteller hugged her even tighter, almost suffocating her.

Rin was just watching the two couples while smiling. She somehow felt accepted while being with these people… something that she never felt while trapped between the four walls of the cat-man town. She placed a hand on her chest and felt her heartbeat. “Say, everyone…” She started and the others turned to her. “Rin was actually thinking of something…” She shyly started fidgeting with the short of her dark outfit. “M-may Rin join your team as well. Rin is tired of staying at the town. If it’s ok with you, Rin would like to live more adventure as well.”

The reply was two pair of smile. “Of course!” replied Honoka.

“You are always welcome to join us, Rin~” continued Nozomi.

“I-it’s not as if I care if you join or not… but I wouldn’t say that I don’t want you to join.” said Maki while playing with a strand of her hair.

“Bah… Do as you wish!” finished Nico.

The cat-girl smiled and ran beside her new friends. “Yay! Rin has friends now.”

Meanwhile, Nozomi took a card from her cleavage and smiled as she read it. _“It looks live our adventure has finally started. I can’t wait to see who else are going to join out party.”_ She placed the card back where it was before anyone could see. _“The nine goddess of the war… I wonder who will be the chosen ones.”_


	2. Yume no Tobira

"Hyaaa!"

As the sun was high in the sky, no cloud at the horizon, people were engaging against a horde of monster in a wasteland terrain. The guild members, led by Honoka were on a mission. The mission was to take care of few monsters that were terrorizing the nearby villages.

"Take this!" The ginger slashed as hard as she could one of the zombie-like creatures, cutting it in half. Unfortunately for her, an eyeball monster took opportunity and casted a beam attack against the young swordswoman. Honoka barely managed to block it and ended up with a small wound on her right hand. "Not bad!"

"Honoka!" She turned around to see a certain red-haired princess joining her hands and muttering something. **"Cura!"** As soon as Maki casted the spell, a bright light enveloped Honoka's body and second later, her wound was fully mend.

"Thank you, Maki!" The ginger smiled at the priestess before rushing back toward the enemies.

At the other side of the battlefield, a certain cat-girl was slashing enemies with her dual knives. She rushed toward the enemies and threw one of her weapons that passed through one of the gargoyles. She then jumped high in the sky and took a scroll from her pocket. " **Teleportation!"** Second later, Rin was behind the enemies, caught the knife she threw earlier and slashed the still distracted monsters. "They are too numerous nya."

The cat-girl almost failed to realize that a hell-dog has appeared behind her and was about to bite her head off if it wasn't for Nozomi who punched its head, sending the creature at the other side of the battlefield. "Rin; are you all right? Are you hurt?"

Rin turned to her ally with teary eyes. "Nozomi…" She jumped at the older fortuneteller and dug her face in her friend's chest. "Rin was so scared nya. Rin thought it was the end nya."

The purplenette patted her head like a mother with their childrens. "It's all in the past now. You are safe now."

As the younger girl continued to sob, a certain raven-haired Manakete was scoffing at them. "Could you please stop being all 'lovey dovey'? We are still in the middle of a battlefield."

The two separated and Nozomi turned to the shorted ravenette, a mischievous expression on her face. "Could it be that Nikocchi is jealous?" Niko made a step back, but the fortuneteller jumped and caught the Manakete, hugging her and pressing her against her buxom. "Do not worry though! I will give you as much hug as you want."

Niko tried to fight back, but was loosing—mostly because of the body size difference. She tried to push the purplenette aside but in vain. Even her words were cuffed. _"Get off me, woman!"_

Meanwhile, Rin was just blankly watching the two while one only thought raced in her mind. _"These two are so 'lovey dovey' nya."_

"Hey!" Fortunately, the trio was brought back into reality by Maki's yell. They all turned to the Nishikino princess who looked like she was about to explode from anger. "We are still in the middle of a battle, should I remind you." Nozomi and Niko separated at these words, the shorter one letting go of a sigh before flying toward the princess' side.

"Jeez…" The Manakete cursed as she landed near Honoka—who was fighting some ghouls as majestically as she could—while Maki was watching her with admiration—not that she would ever admit that she took a liking in the young swordswoman. "You two are so helpless." She dug her hand in her pocket as and took a ruby red gem out of it. **"Transformation!"**

Niko's body started to glow as her dark wings grew bigger, just like her horns and the rest of her body. In less than one minute, she fully transformed into a huge black dragon with crimson red eyes. It roared and breathed fire on the enemies, decimating half of them.

"Wow!" Rin whistled at the spectacle. "Niko is so powerful nya."

The fortuneteller of the group chuckled and the cat-girl turned to her. "Indeed the Manakete are. That was mostly why humans used to be scared of them." Nozomi looked down after saying these words. _"To think that the humans have chased them for centuries now… Nikocchi must have faced lot of hardship until now…and I can understand why she doesn't thrush humans easily."_ She then lifted her head to see that Honoka and Maki were on top of the dragon's head—the ginger's sword glowing and unlashing thunder attack on the enemy, fusing with Niko's breath and decimating the remaining gargoyles. The fortuneteller smiled. "Bah… It looks like she does thrush us and it's all right."

"Nozomi?" The cat-girl tilted her head, not understanding what the older girl was talking about.

The purplenette just closed her eyes. "I was just thinking that I am glad the 5 of us met and became this close."

Rin smiled at these words. "Rin is very glad too nya! If it wasn't for sis Honoka and Nozomi, Rin would have been living a boring life, but now, Rin is a guild member as well and loves going into adventure with sis Honoka, Nozomi, Niko and Maki."

Nozomi smiled and leaned closer to the younger girl. She patted her head. _"That's right! Already one month has passed since we met each others and have started going on adventure."_ Nozomi looked up to see that Niko has returned into her humanoid form and was already arguing with their ginger friend. She was very protective of her dear princess and Honoka being Honoka has found a liking in Maki. That ended up giving birth to a rivality between the two girls. "Rin…"

The young girl nodded. "Rin knows nya…"

The fortuneteller smiled. _"Nikocchi is a good person. It is mostly thanks to Maki who took care of her wounds when the two were alone in that abandoned castle."_ The red-head princess, having fled from her homeland has found refuge in the mystic forest and met the young dragon there. Unlike any other people who would have been scared, the scarlet princess wasn't. She saw that the Manakete had few wounds on its body and decided to use her magic to heal Niko.

The two of them became closer and the numan even started opening her heart once again after 15 years of pain after loosing her whole family. They then started living in the ruined castle until the day where the guild members arrived and Honoka caught Maki's interest. Of course, the Manakete wasn't that happy with that and started defying the ginger.

Fortunately, the two of them managed to get along more after every mission after Niko saw how gentle, kind and determined the swordswoman was. She was glad to learn more about Honoka and ended up admitting that the ginger was maybe the one for Maki. Of course, she was still annoyed by Nozomi's constant touchiness, but she ended up liking it. The taller girl was a warm, kind and caring person and she managed to defrost the Manakete's cold heart.

"All right!" Honoka raised her fist in the air after everyone gathered. "Our mission is cleared. Let us return to the guild!"

Rin was more than happy to hear that. "Rin wants ramen nya."

And with that, the five of them started walking in the direction of the exit of the wasteland while laughing to some jokes that the two gingers told. They walked for 15 minutes until arriving at a plain and not long after near a road.

"Fuu…" Nozomi sighed as she unbuttoned her vest, much to Niko's annoyance. "It's so hot! How about we make a little stop?"

"I agree!" Honoka smiled and the group of young girls sat on the grass while watching the road that led at the other side of the mountains. It was deserted. There was no sign of life in the horizon. The 5 of them has opted to rest under a big tree, enjoying its shadow while drinking tea. Their relaxing time however didn't last long as the ginger's sixth sense ached. She grabbed her sword, stood up and pointed her weapon at a bush at the other side of the road. "Who goes there?"

Several figures got out of their hiding spot, all of them wielding weapons. The other 4 girls stood up as well and reading themselves for a battle. The bandit leader placed his axe on his shoulder and started laughing. "Nice to meet y'all! I'm the leader of the most powerful group of bandit of this region." He grinned as she girls tightened their grip on their weapons. "I see that y'are all members of a guild." He watched the marks on their arms/hands. "A-RISE guild, is that it? I know about yer guild and know how strong y'are…but we are as strong as y'ell."

The second in command—who was a tall man wearing a dark mast and wearing a claw weapon on his right hand—stepped forward. "We are going to take everything in your possession."

"Like hell!" Niko groaned and grabbed the red orb that allowed her to transform, but one of the enemies threw a javelin, knocking her and allowing the orb to fall on the tall grasses. "What the… You son of a…"

The bandits grinned as the Manakete started looking for the gem. The other girls prepared for a battle and Honoka was the first to charge. She attempted to slash at one of the enemy, but a shadow appeared behind her, kicking her at the side. The ginger fell on the dusty road and stood up as soon as she could, but was greeted by a hammer being thrown at her way.

Fortunately, Nozomi was fast enough and moved in front of her ally. **"Shield barrier!"** He body started to glow and she punched the hammer, breaking it in the process. She then eyed at Honoka who was standing up before turning toward the opponents once again. "They are strong! I heard that their power could rivalize against Otonokizaka's royal army."

"You serious?" The ginger grabbed her sword and reading for another charge. She rushed forward, followed closely by the purplenette and jumped high before smashing her blade on the soil. **"Tremor!"** She ground started to shake and pillar of stone rose from the ground, knocking few of the enemies out.

The enemy leader grinned. "Is that all ye can do?" He lifted his axe and charged at the ginger. The man smashed but Honoka blocked the arrack with her sword, but feeling the force behind the attack. Their blades fought for a split second before the ginger was sent flying 10 feet away by the tall man's brute force. "Come on! Face it! Y not strong 'nough."

Honoka cursed as she stood up and used her sword as a support and not fall. _"I received too much damage from the last attack. I hate to admit it, but he's someone I won't be able to take."_ Her eyes scanned the surrounding to see that Nozomi too had a hard time engaging with the masked man. The assassin was too fast, never allowing the fortuneteller to cast any spell and she was slowly loosing her strength. As for Rin and Maki, they were outnumbered by the archers and magic users aiming at them. Niko was trying to protect the red-head, her gem still nowhere to be found. _"We're in deep trouble!"_

"Hahahahaha!" The boss laughed like the sadist he was. "Even the elite of A-RISE can't keep up against us."

"What do you want dammit?" The ginger-haired guild member yelled at the man after standing up.

The tall man looked at her for a split second before scoffing. "We heard that the princess on the Nishikino kingdom and a Manakete are adventuring with you. We want to bring them with us as to bribe the king of lot of money."

"So, for you, it's always money?" Honoka yelled with rage. "I hate people like you!" She grabbed her sword with both hand and rushed forward. **"Ultimate sword!"** Her weapon started to glow and she slashed the ground, generating a huge explosion.

Seconds later, half of the enemies were out of the equation while the leader was still standing. "Is that all you've got, lil' girl?" He grabbed his axe with both hand as Honoka placed her sword in front of her for protection. "Let me show you what the true power is!" He rushed forward as his blade started glowing. **"Ragnarok!"**

The explosion that followed was enough to knock the ginger at the other side of the battlefield. Few of the enemies were caught in the explosion as well, but the boss didn't care about them. There was now a huge crater on the road and the 4 guild members just watched in horror how powerful their enemy was.

"Honoka!" Maki rushed by the swordswoman's side.

The ginger slowly stood up, now tired and wounded while bleeding like hell. "It's all right! I can still fight!"

The Nishikino princess somehow felt relieved to see that the ginger was still conscious and used her power to heal her friend. "Hold on Honoka!" She placed her hands on the swordswoman's forehead. **"Refreshment!"**

A part of Honoka's wounds were mended instantly, but her strength was still low. "Thank you, Maki!" She stood up and pointed her sword at the enemy.

"So, you still want to fight?" The enemy boss grinned. "Fine! I will kill you in that case!"

The two of them readied for a battle and rushed forward, their blades clashing several times until a certain noise was caught by their ears. Everyone paused their actual fight and turned to the horizon to see a squadron of knight riding in their direction. They didn't know who they were so they kept their guard high.

It didn't take the knight more than one minute to arrive at the current battlefield. The small army was led by a young girl with blonde hair attached in a ponytail. She was wearing a sky blue armor and was ridding a white armored horse, a spear in hand. "Leader of the bandits Garo, you are under arrest!"

The man chuckled at these words. "You, girlie think you can capture us? I'll let you know that even the royal army of Otonokizaka has lost against us."

The blonde just chuckled back. "But we are not just mere royal army." She eyed at a brunette girl beside her—who was also riding a horse, wearing a brown armor and a crossbow in hand. "We are the elite force of the Nishikino kingdom and we received order from our king to stop your band from harming any more civil."

The bandits laughed. "Nishikino? We are in the middle of Otonokizakan area! You really want to start a war?"

The blonde smiled. "Oh…so you haven't heard the news yet? Too bad!" She eyed at her second in command. "We got special authorization by the king of Nishikino and the young princess of Otonokizaka to cross the borders and defeat you all. In other words, this is an official mission signed by the two kingdoms to get rid of you."

That was the only words they had to share before the knights charged forward, defeating the bandits one by one. Rin was glad they got reinforcement and almost failed to see a brigand who was ready to chop her head off. Fortunately, the beautiful blonde knight was fast enough to knock the brigand and rescued the cat-girl. "Are you all right, miss?" The ginger's face turned slightly pink from the sudden closeness and she jus nodded. "I'm glad in that case!"

It didn't take them 15 minutes to take care of the bandits and only the boss remained. The knight leader engaged him in a one-on-one and one thing was sure, it was a tough battle.

The man jumped high and attempted to slash, but the knight blocked it with her spear. She then trusted her weapon and hit the enemy's stomach. That, however wasn't enough to defeat him and the man took another chance by slamming the ground. **"Gravity chaos!"**

Pillar of darkness erupted from the ground, but the young knight managed to avoid them all and rushed forward. Her spear started to glow and she rushed full speed before tearing the man in two. **"Chariot!"**

[-x-x-x-]

"Thank you for your help, miss!"

The enemies were all defeated by that time. Sure enough, the knight were supposed to arrest the bandits, but things turned south and they ended up killing all the enemies.

"It's all right!" The blonde smiled at Rin—who instantly blushed at how beautiful the knight was. The spear user herself couldn't help but to feel something inside her while seeing the cute expression on the cat-girl's face. _"She's so cute! I am definitely too gay for these things."_

Fortunately, the brown-haired archer accompanying the knights cleared her throat, allowing everyone to get back on earth. "By the way, we've heard about you all. You are from the A-RISE guild, right?"

Honoka nodded. "Yes; we are!"

"And we also heard that the Princess is with you…" The blonde knight pointed out. Maki hid her face and turned her back to the group. The young knight saw it and walked closer to her. "Princess… is that you?"

"No! You are mistaken!" The red-head lied. "I am just a normal peasant girl who has nothing to do with the Nishikino kingdom."

"Princess…" The archer too turned to her. "You can't lie to us, you know. After all, we are your milk sisters."

Maki let go of a very loud and heavy sigh before turning to the group. True enough, she was friend with the two knights since their childhood. "Hanayo… Eri… I know that Father and Mother are concerned…but it's like I said the night before I fled; I've got enough of living between 4 walls. I want to discover the world with my own eyes."

Eri looked sternly at her and Maki lowered her eyes. "But why didn't you tell us? I mean you escaped without letting anyone know."

"But if I told you, you would have stopped me."

"Nonsense!" The red-head lifted her head at the knight's word. Eri smiled at her. "Remember, we know each others since we were childrens. Do you really thing that?"

Hanayo nodded as well as she got down from her horse. "What Eri said is true!" She then eyed at the 4 other guild members and turned to them before bowing. "Thank you for taking care of Maki for us!"

"Hanayo…"

Honoka and company just smiled at the well-mannered archer. "It's a pleasure!"

[-x-x-x-]

"So, you won't tell them anything?" Maki wanted to be sure that her childhood friends won't betray their words.

"Worry not, Maki!" Eri smiled as she got on her horse. "We promise!" She then turned to the other guild members. "We'll leave our dear princess in your care."

"You can count on us!" Honoka replied with a huge smile.

The knight then turned at Rin—who blushed at the sudden eye contact. "If you ever happen to pass by the Nishikino kingdom, feel free to visit us at the royal tavern."

And with that, the knights rode away at the horizon. Rin however was still looking lovingly at the blonde's figure at the horizon. Nozomi chuckled. "Looks like our dear little Rin fell in love too~"

"Wha…" The scarlet princess' face turned red at these words.

Even Niko almost dropped the gem she just found back. "Seriously, Nozomi!?"

"Yeah!"

A smile found its way on Maki's lips however. _"I guess it's fine… Eri is a good person and so is Rin. If these two are made for each others, I will gladly give my blessing."_

"All right!" Honoka once again raised her fist in the air. "Now that everything is settled, let us return to the guild!"

"Yay!" Rin and Nozomi cheered and the 5 of them walked in the direction on the small town of UTX where their guild was located at. They didn't have to walk that long—just one hour before their guild could have been seen. As they ran toward their 'home', one thought was on the fortuneteller's mind. _"Hanayo and Eri… These two have something special about them…"_ She slowed down, allowing the 4 younger girls to get ahead of her. She grabbed a card from her pocket and smiled at it.

"Nozomi; what are you doing?" Honoka waved at her. "Let us go home! I want some bread for diner."

"Coming!" Nozomi placed the card back on her pocket. _"Maybe these two are…"_ She shook her head before sprinting after her allies. _"Bah… Only the future will tell…but for now, let us do our best."_ They arrived in front of the tavern's door and smiled at each others. _"We need to become stronger until then!"_


	3. Yoka

As the sun was high in the sky, two figures could be seen sparing in the middle of A-RISE guild's training ground. The one with past shoulder ginger hair, equipped with a dual edge sword was on her guard while her partner tightened the grip on her dual knives. Rin charged forward and jumped from side to side at a very fast pace, confusing the older girl. After a quick maneuver, she kicked the ground hard enough to increase her speed so she was behind Honoka.

Attempting to get her sparing partner, the cat-girl aimed a kick at the taller girl's side but Honoka managed to block it with her right arm. She then turned around to come face-to-face with the shorter numan. Honoka swung her sword horizontally and Rin made several backflips to avoid it.

"Not bad, Honoka!"

The taller ginger smiled. "The same could be said for you! You are still very agile despite being blindfooled."

True enough; the shorter girl had a white cloth blindfool on her face, covering her eyes. She has decided to do so as to sharpen her other senses. A numan has sharper sense of odor, vision and audition but the cat-girl still thought she has relied too much on her eyes. "Rin needs to get stronger." She charged forward once again, the cat ears on top of her twitching as a proof that she was attempting to scan the surrounding by the sound only.

Honoka nodded before charging herself. She made a vertical slash but the petite girl moved at the side before tightening her grip on her knives and made an attempt to trust her opponent. The taller ginger was faster though and took one step back as to avoid it but then quickly jumped forward once again before landing a punch on Rin's gut.

The younger girl couched and fell on her knees as Honoka backed away for an instant. She was about to voice her concern, but the numan girl quickly stood up and got in a fighting position. Honoka understood and tightened the grip on her sword before charging forward. She focused her power on the blade and it started to glow with green light and then pointed it at her partner. "Get ready, Rin! **Banishment!"**

Wind formed around the sword and the ginger stopped abruptly, causing the wind blades to rush at the shorter girl. Rin's ears twitched, sensing the incoming danger. She crawled an instant before pushing her legs as to allow her to jump high in the sky, allowing her to avoid the attack and cast a counter spell. She took a small scroll from her ninja outfit pocket and placed it in between her thumb and ring finger. **"Hidden skill: Summoning!"** She placed her hand forward and the scroll turned into white smokes.

As the smoke cleared, a frog made of jade was thrown at Honoka's direction. Deciding to not evade it but instead stop it, the ginger placed her right foot sternly on the soil while taking a deep breath. She opened her eyes as the frog was only a couple of meter from her and swung her sword as it emitted a golden light. **"Revolution!"** She managed to slash the jade frog in half but Rin has taken the opportunity to sneak from behind her.

The cat-girl ran in Honoka's direction and the ginger, sensing her presence turned just as the shorter of the duo was about to stab her. She trusted at the numan but her blade passed through her and she disappeared in a poof of white smokes. Realizing that it was a diversion, as the human girl was about to turn around, she felt a hand grabbing her left arm and second later, she was judo-thrown on the soil with Rin on top of her.

With the sharp blade of a knife in front of her throat and her hands held underneath her, Honoka smiled. "Nice done, Rin! You've improved a lot."

The shorter girl smiled back before standing up and placing her knives on their holster. "It was all thanks to Honoka." She took the blindfool off and opened her pair of chartreuse eyes. "Rin needs to become stronger so we won't loose a battle anymore."

Already ten days has passed since their encounter with the bandits; that shameful defeat. They would have been dead that day if it wasn't for the knights of Nishikino Kingdom who saved them at the last second.

"I have to become stronger as well." The taller ginger said as she stood up and patted the dust away from her armor. Said armor has changed as she was now with a white cotton shirt and a brown knee-length leather skirt. In addition to that, she was wearing a silver breastplate covering her torso and back, her shoulders, a pair of silver protection for her elbows and knees, a pair of leather gloves, a pair of leather boot covered with iron material and a her favorite headband. "I have to protect everyone." She said in a determinate tone. _"And because I need to save Umi as well."_

The shorter girl then handed her the blindfool. "It's Honoka's turn now then nya!" After all, the two has trained together for several days and has improved a lot since then.

Honoka accepted it and hid her eyes behind it before getting in position. "Let's do it, Rin!"

At the other side of the training ground, but the shadow of a three, Nozomi was watching the two while reading her cards. Sleeping on her lap was a tired Niko. The two of them has trained a lot since that day too and were resting because of the heath. _"These two sure are full of energy…"_ The purplenette giggled before rubbing the manakete's bangs aside. The shorter girl was clad in her usual dark gothic Lolita dress, her dark wings and horns visible, just like her sharp fangs. "Niko is so cute~" Leaning down, Nozomi gave her a peek on the forehead.

That was enough to wake her up and Niko almost shrieked back if it wasn't for the taller girl who quickly took her in a hug. "W-what do you think you are doing? Let go of me, woman!" Her resistance was futile though as Nozomi was far stronger in her now that Niko was in her humanoid form.

"I'm not letting go~" The fortuneteller chanted. "I want to hug Niko all day long~"

Not far from them, Maki and Anju were taking care of Erena who was wounded by her last mission. They were inside the nursing office and could see how 'lovey dovey' NozoNiko was. "These two…" The red-head sighed before turning her attention back to their patient.

The knight had few cuts all around her body and has lost blood so both healers did their best. Fortunately, Erena came back into her sense as her wounds got bandaged. "Looks like I goofed during my last mission…" She joked.

"Jeez! Erena!" The orange-haired girl scowled her. "What did you think you were doing? You were only supposed to deliver a package to the Kingdom of Uranohoshi and not fight against an army of bandits by your own. Sure, you won, but look at the drawbacks."

Maki sighed at the two girl's antics. These kinds of things happened a lot with their guild leaders. The A-RISE guild was led by Tsubasa, Anju and Erena and the last two are obviously lovers though they don't show it openly. The red-head was reckless and brave while the shorter girl was caring and likes to use her luck and charm during battles. These two form a very powerful duo and were well-respected among the existing guilds.

The young Nishikino princess then washed her hands and walked out of the room after waving at the two lovebirds that were in a situation that can be-… how to say it? They were scowlding each others and cuddling at the same time.

As Maki arrived at the training ground, she saw Niko running in her direction and hiding behind her, tugging at her dress. Said Princess was clad in an expansive-looking long-sleeve and toe-length silk dress. She was wearing expensive-looking heels, silk gloves and a diadem made of silver on top of her head, offering her lot of defense and agility during combat.

"W-what do you think you are doing?" She scowled the shorter numan but the later just tugged on her dress without saying a word.

"Aw, Niko~ Why are you hiding? I still want to hug you all day~" Nozomi walked in their direction with a big smile on her face.

"Stay away from me, woman!" The petite said as she slightly peeked from her hiding spot before turning to her Princess. "Maki; do something or that woman is going to turn me into her plaything!"

The red-head rolled her eyes. "Can't you just solve your own romantic problems? I already have my dose with Honoka…" Her face turned red at her own words. "I-I mean i-it's not as if there is anything between us or anything…" She started to play with her strand of hair. "A-anyway, why don't you just turn into a dragon and solve this yourself?"

"Are you dumb?" The manakete screamed at the taller girl. "Sure, I want her to stop harassing me but I am not planning to kill an ally."

"An ally you say?" Nozomi squealed. "So, Niko is very attached to us after all~ You are not as emotionless as you pretend to be."

The raven-haired numan gritted her teeth as her face turned red. "Maki! Do something! I can't keep up like this anymore."

The red-head sighed. "And why should I help you?" Niko made a begging puppy eye however and Maki couldn't help but to let go of a defeated sigh. "Fine! But it is the last time I help you." She placed a hand forward and chanted something. Not long after, a staff with ruby ornament on the tip appeared and the manakete took the opportunity to run at the nearest building.

"So, Maki want to play with me~" The fortuneteller joked as she placed the card she was holding on her robe pocket. Her attire was composed of a short-sleeved purple shirt and ankle-length purple skirt. A dark hooded robe and heels were completing her armor, allowing her lot of magical power and resistance. "Let us begin in that case!"

The red-head nodded before holding her staff high and chanting a spell. **"Barrier!"** A yellow light appeared and covered her body. **"Shell!"** This time, a blue light appeared and covered her as well. **"Haste!"** A clock appeared on top of her and it turned faster before disappearing.

The purple-head smiled. "So, Maki isn't going to hold back?" She chuckled. "I guess I won't as well." Just as she got in a fighting position, an explosion took place in the direction of UTX village and everyone quickly turned to there. Even Honoka and Rin who were still training and Niko were surprised and looked at the now burning buildings. The fortuneteller quickly grabbed a card. "This is bad! The village is being attacked!"

She started running in the direction of the village and was soon followed by the four other members of their team. Well… Niko was flying while the others were running. "Super! Just when Tsubasa is out for a meeting, Erena is still recovering and Anju got a surprised appointment!" The manakete said sarcastically.

"Wait! Anju what?" Maki asked in disbelief.

"She got a surprise mission and left few minutes ago, using her teleportation spell."

Using the teleportation spell meant she was already too far to hear about the surprise attack. The great leader of the guild was absent due to an inter-guild meeting and the third leader was not in condition to fight yet, meaning that the five of them had to take the reign. The other members were already evacuating the civilians as they arrived and saw who the assaulters were.

The attackers were a group of person wearing dark armors. The one leading them was wearing a dark armor like the others that was covering their full body, from neck to toes. The leader was a young girl their age judging by her long wavy blue hair. She was wearing a dark mask covering her eyes and a dark diadem on top of her head.

Honoka froze as she saw that. "U…mi…?"

Rin turned her curiously. "Who?"

Nozomi bit her lip. "Why are you doing this, Umi?" They got no response but a smile from the other girl's crimson red-colored lips. "We've been looking for you!"

The taller girl raised her sharp saber sword as the small group she was reading got ready for the combat as well. She then charged right at the group of girl but Honoka got in her way by clashing their sword. "Umi! What are you doing? Snap out of it! It's me; Honoka!" The bluenette didn't show any reaction though as she still attempted to slash several times and the ginger blocked them all.

The rest of their group was engaging against the other people in dark as well. Rin has jumped into the sky and used her summoning spell but the first enemy used his shield to block it. Maki went next by swinging her staff. **"Thundaja!"** A pillar of thunder appeared from above the enemies but another of the armored foes wielded a book and chanted something to negate the spell. "Wha-… How?"

Nozomi didn't let that stop her from trying though as she rushed at the group of enemy readying her fist and jumped before punching the earth. **"Magnitude 13!"** The soil broke, creating fissures that went the enemies' direction and swallowed them in. She then joined her firsts. **"Finish move: soil sewing!"** The fissures started to close, hoping to press the enemies in but then a pillar of light came from underneath and four of the dark-clad guys jumped out before the ground fully closed.

The first of the group ran in Niko's direction since the shorter girl was still behind everyone else. She grinned. "How stupid." She grabbed a red gemstone from her pocket and it glowed, causing her wings and horn just like the rest of her body to gain size. She fully transformed into a dark dragon in less than five seconds. **"Dark breath!"** She breathed dark matter at the opponent but the enemy avoided it by jumping high in the sky.

While everyone was facing their own enemies, Honoka was busy against her childhood friend. Umi was good as swordsmanship and in addition to being very fast and accurate; her armor was giving her bonus defense. The ginger had difficulty trying to keep up. "Damn it, Umi!"

[-x-x-x-]

" _Are you sure this is a good idea?" A blue-haired girl questioned as the three friends walked inside the cave. "I mean we will be in deep trouble if they find us."_

" _You worry too much, Umi!" Another girl with ginger hair replied casually as she jumped into another rock, processing further into the cave. "It will be fine! Aren't you confident in your sword?"_

" _I am but…"_

_Umi felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see a purple-haired girl smiling at her. "Let us do our best!"_

_The bluenette let go of a sigh before resuming their walk. The three were just simple village girls and friends. While Umi was the daughter of an aristocrat, Honoka was the daughter of a merchant and Nozomi was an orphan._

_Right now, they were wandering inside the forbidden cave behind the hill deem 'forbidden'. Words has it said that a spirit abide these caves. That spirit was said to be able to grant wishes but the cave itself was full of traps and dangerous monsters. The three girls being very good in sword and magic has decided to get in since they had their dreams._

_They soon arrived at a dead end and Umi voiced her thought. "It looks like it's a dead end. Let us get out now!"_

_The ginger pouted but seeing no other way had no choice but to agree. They then walked their way back but then noticed a passage they haven't seen while walking earlier. "Hey! Let us see where this passage leads to!"_

_Umi sighed as she knew she won't be able to convince her friends to stay away from a danger that might cost their lives. With that, the three girls walked the new path and soon found themselves at some sort of room. "What is this place?"_

_No one had the occasion to reply as a figure walked out of the shadow and grabbed the bluenette's arm before dragging her in the shadow. "Umi!" Honoka and Nozomi ran as to catch their friends but it was too late as the bluenette was swallowed by the shadow. "Umi!"_

_The two of them spent hours looking around and inside the cave for their friends but never found her. As the night fell on the Kingdom, the two young girls were starting to feel scared. "Nozomi… I am scared… They are going to kill us…" By 'they', she meant Umi's family. Already hanging out with the young heiress was forbidden enough; the man would surely have their head cut if anything happened to his daughter._

" _Honoka…" The purplenette said with concern as the two sat on a rock our of the cave, near the forest. "Let's flee!"_

" _What? But what about my family?"_

" _They will be fine! There is no proof Umi was with us. They will think that we got kidnapped or something like that. I am sure that no one will harm your family…but we can't stay here." She grabbed the younger girl's hand. "Please!"_

_There was a brief moment of silence until the ginger spoke again. "All right! But we will go searching for Umi and someday, the three of us will return back into our village."_

_Nozomi joined their pinkie fingers. "It's a promise!"_

[-x-x-x-]

Honoka blocked another attack from her possessed friend. "Damn it, Umi! Why can't you just wake up!" She charged full power at the bluenette as her blade started to emit golden silver light. **"Crusade!"** She upslashed her opponent, sending Umi in the air before jumping above her and downslashed her as to make her crash on the ground.

The ginger was hoping she didn't hurt the blue-haired girl too much as she fell back on the ground. As the dust started to clear though, the dark armor clad girl stood up and angrily pointed her saber at the ginger. Honoka nodded before charging once again.

This time, Umi increased her speed and managed to inflict few scars on her childhood friend. "Damn it!" Honoka screamed in pain as the bluenette jumped back and prepared her weapon. She then charged again and not being able to evade it, the ginger took the full force of the attack.

The shorter girl was knocked back on the floor and slowly attempted to stand up. She saw Umi charging at her once again but deciding that it was time for applying her newly learnt technique, she closed her eyes, allowing her sixth sense to follow the bluenette's movement.

As the dark girl was only one meter away from her and ready to slash her, she suddenly opened her eyes and crawled down as to avoid the attack. She then jumped in the air at a light speed before her sword started to glow in a bright yellow light. _"I get it now! The person controlling her is using that diadem. All I have to do is to destroy it."_ She placed her hand forward and chains coming from the ground came to bind her opponent. She then kicked the air above her as to give her speed and aimed her slash at the diadem. **"Ultimate slash!"** She carefully aimed for the accessory and it did work as only the diadem broke.

Umi's armor and mask disappeared in the same time as the cursed item did and she almost fainted on the ground if it wasn't for the ginger who caught her just in time. "Honoka…"

Said girl smiled at here. "Welcome home! We are sorry for taking that long!"

They heard a cough and turned around to see that Nozomi and the others have defeated their enemies as well. "Looks like unlike Umi, our enemies disappeared like bubble of water after we defeated them."

Honoka stood up and placed Umi's arm on her shoulder. "Anyway, everyone; this is our childhood friend Umi!"

The bluenette slightly bowed her head. "It's nice to meet you all. Thank you for looking at Honoka! She sure can be a lot of trouble." The ginger pouted at these words.

Niko sighed. "You don't say it! She is a real pain!"

The fortuneteller of the group then walked behind the petite girl and hugged her. "This cutie here is Niko by the way. She is my fiancée!" There was a brief moment of silence for a split second before Honoka let go of an awkward laughing.

Maki however was just playing with her hair. The bluenette noticed her and decided to make the first contact. "You can call me Umi! Thank you for looking after Honoka!"

"Maki!" The red-head just replied. To be honest, she was jealous that Honoka was so touchy with 'someone' who was not her. It was not as if she would admit that loud though.

"Anyway," Nozomi cleared her throat, "We have lot of thing to discuss for now. How about we go back to the guild first?" She then led the way, still hugging the petite girl. Everyone else followed behind her. _"We managed to find Umi back and rescued her. Now that six of the µ's are together, all that's remain is to find the three more. I already have my idea about the two of them but I don't have any clue about the last member."_ She then eyed at her friends who were bickering about food behind.

Niko who has stopped struggling saw the brief moment of the fortuneteller dropped her smile and couldn't help but to ask the question that was bugging her mind. "So, what is wrong? You've been spacing out since earlier."

Nozomi just smiled in response. "Niko is as perceptive as always~" She teased and the ravenette rolled her eyes. "To be honest, I was thinking about our fate."

The petite girl lifted her head so her crimson eyes met with a pair of emerald ones. "What do you mean?" The only response she got came into a grin before Nozomi tightened the grip. "Let go of me, woman!" She attempted to fight but in vain. "I-I can't breathe…"

Just as she was about to make another scene, Niko's attempt was cut in halt as the purplenette brought their lips together for the first time. It was a gentle and slow kiss that lasted for only a couple of second but the manakete had the feeling that millenniums has passed. Nozomi rested her forehead against the shorter girl's. "Let us do our best, Niko!"

There was a brief moment of silence until the numan finally replied, her face red from embarrassment over the fact that Nozomi has just stolen her first kiss. "Y-yeah!"


	4. Kitto

With the sun settling at the horizon, the inhabitants of the village were done with the reparation from the attack of the day prior. The young hunters have helped a lot as well and hence were tired and resting at the guild. Most of them were either resting in their room or drinking at the bar.

Seven girls were seated at a table while eating. Honoka however was just resting her head on the table. "I'm so tired! We really worked hard today." She then lifted her head and smiled at her companions. "Hey, Maki! Do me a favor and give me a massage tonight~"

Said red-head's face turned thousands shade of red at that request and she instantly turned into a stuttering mess. "Wawawawwaaaa…"

"So shameless!" Umi added as she covered her ears, tears at the sides of her eyes. "Honoka is so shameless!"

The fortuneteller of the group just giggled as she took a sip from her cocktail and moved her arm to wrap it around Niko's waist. She had another mischievous grin on her face. "Heya, Niko! How 'bout I also give ya a massage later~?"

The young manakete just shoved her away and gave a disgusted look before standing up. "Nozomi, you're drunk! I don't talk to drunken women."

At the other side of the table, ignoring all that, Rin was having a friendly chat with the leader of the group. "So, how did your last mission go nya?"

The response came as a smile. "It turned into a real mess. I just thought it was a problem of brigands but it's a more complex one." Rin gave a tilt of the head at these words, motioning Tsubasa to explain. The brunette understood and was about to continue but first dropped her smile and looked down at her mug. "We met several beastmen rebelling. I don't really knows about the details but apparently, few of them are recruiting members to attack the Kingdom of Otonokizaka."

Niko heard that last word and couldn't help but to walk beside their leader. She got interested in the subject since it did concern her. She was also a beastman so.

"I don't know all the details and we're not sure yet 100% but the spy has reported a werewolf is the leader. Apparently, she has already recruited few elites and their target is to assassin the heiress of the throne so they can take over the kingdom." The brunette continued, her eyes still on the liquid inside her mug. "I sent a messenger to castle Nishikino as to ask the King about his opinion and we will wait for their reply and authorization before we could do anything. I heard these rebels have settled their HQ at the basement of an abandoned fort at the border of Otonokizaka-Nishinkino."

The young manakete frowned as she took a seat beside Tsubasa. "So, you are saying that they are planning to make a war?"

"Exactly!"

Niko gritted her teeth. She hated wars. After all, she has lost her family during the last war that happened. Her parents and siblings; they all perished, killed by humans and she had to flee as to get refuge in that abandoned castle until the other idiots found about her existence.

"But we have to stop them nya."

Tsubasa placed her mug on the table and turned to Rin, seriousness over her face. "We can't do anything yet for now. We need both the King of Nishikino's and the Queen of Otonokizaka's to give us green light before processing."

"But we all know how corrupted the castle is." Nozomi added as she joined the conversation. Still clad in her dark purple robe, she had a card in hand and moved her arms to hug Niko from behind. "The advisors of the Queen are all bastards who only think about themselves. I would not be surprised if they were all behind all this chaos."

A hand was placed on the fortuneteller's shoulder and she turned to see a serious Erena turning to her. "Hold your tongue, Miss Nozomi. We'll get in trouble if they learn that we are badmouthing them in public."

Honoka sighed as she stood up. She has been listening to the entire story since the beginning but has just remained silent. Looking down, she walked toward the exit door without saying a word. Maki saw her and wanted to say something but renounced. The ginger was not acting like her usual self. She just changed her way of acting from the second to another and that made the young Princess worried.

[-x-x-x-]

Glancing at the starry sky from atop a hill, Honoka was resting her back on a tree. She was alone while thinking about few things. She has remembered lot of things. They have already been through hell since Nozomi and she has fled from their hometown to now.

The biggest trauma the ginger has been through however, she never told it to anyone. It all happened few months after their escape and the two girls got accidentally separated in a snowstorm. That was when Honoka met them.

"Honoka?" A familiar voice brought her out of her thoughts and she lifted her head before smiling at the red-head who was walking in her direction. "Are you all right? You've been acting strangely since earlier."

"I'm fine! Thank you for worrying." Honoka said before patting the spot beside her.

Maki was a little reluctant but still accepted her offer. Adjusting her silk dress' skirt, she sat down on the grassy soil and glanced at the stars. Her lips curled into a smile. "You know… When I look at the stars like this, I can't help but to think that the world we are living in is really wide and there are all kind of people living there." The red-head said in a nostalgic tone. "I always thought that I was alone despite all these living things around me. That was until I met you all."

"Maki…"

Said red-head smiled and turned to the shorter girl. "I will only say it once so open your ears, okay?" She said before her cheeks turned pink. "We are all friends so you can lean on us, you know. If you have anything to say, I will listen to it."

"Maki…" There was a brief moment of silence before the ginger jumped at the younger girl and took her in a bear hug. The red-head wanted to say something but just decided to remain silent. "You know…" Honoka spoke again after a while, hiding her face in Maki's chest. "I am scared of lot of things. I am scared I might be alone again… I'm also very scared of meeting 'them' again."

"Them?" The red-head questioned before feeling her hands moving on their own and patted the ginger's head. Her face's color went from pink to as red as her hair instantly but just looked at the horizon as to calm herself.

Honoka nodded. "You know… I have done lot of stupid things back then and always dragged Nozomi and Umi. One day however, as we got separated during a snowstorm, I was really scared." Her voice started to tremble as she continued. "There were nine of them. I couldn't see their faced but they were just dark figures. I was never that scared in my life. They tortured me for hours that seemed like years before placing several curses on me." The ginger backed away so that Maki could have a look at her. Honoka awkwardly started to remove her clothes until she was in her underwear. "I haven't told anyone about them before. Not even Nozomi."

Maki's face turned even redder as she wanted to hide her eyes. She however knew that the shorter girl wanted to show her something so she had to bear with it.

The ginger closed her eyes and dark marks appeared all around her body; a magic circle on her stomach, mysterious writings on her neck, dark veins-like traces on her arms and legs. Honoka slowly opened her eyes to reveal that they were totally dark, her irises blood red. A pair of bat wings appeared on her back and a skinny tail as well as a pair of horn atop her head. Her nails turned into sharp claws and her teeth turned into fangs.

Honoka shyly looked down. "They turned me into this…"

"Honoka…" Maki's jaw has dropped and she couldn't take her eyes away from the 'demon' in front of her.

"I can transform back into a human whenever I want it but there are times I can't control myself and turn into this."

There was a brief moment of silence until the red-head stood up and took their leader in a warm hug, surprising Honoka. "And what if you are like this? Honoka is Honoka. As long as you are honest with yourself, we will always accept you for who you are or what you are."

A tear ran on Honoka's cheek at these words before she returned the hug, a smile appearing on her face.

[-x-x-x-]

"Not a word to the others, okay?" Honoka said as the two of them walked back toward the guild. Her red-head friend nodded. "I don't want to tell them yet. Knowing Umi, she will make a lot of deal just because of that."

It didn't take them long before reaching their destination and the one to greet them was no one else but the guild master Tsubasa who had a serious look on her face. She turned to the two. "There you go! I know it's very sudden but we got a special request from the King of Nishikino Kingdom himself. They want us to send the elite to the royal palace as soon as possible."

"Say what?" The ginger was surprised.

"They just sent a messenger earlier." The brunette continued. "Because of the recent attack, Erena, Anju and I won't be able to leave the HQ for a while. Also, your comrades have already left so you have to depart as soon as you could."

"That's so sudden…"

However, the duo nodded before going upstairs, gathered few things they needed and got ready to leave. After exchanging a look with the headmaster trio, Honoka and Maki processed into leaving the village. It was already dark but the sword user was used to nocturnal trips. Nozomi and she have already been sent on night mission several times since they were member of the A-RISE guild.

The young Princess however had some difficulties so she kept closer to the ginger, a constant blush on her face. The two of them walked fast, almost running, as they were far from the village. Only silent plains were surrounding them. They couldn't let their guard down but needed to catch up with everyone else though.

"Say, Maki…" Honoka started as they reached a bridge. "What do you think has happened in the Kingdom of Nishikino? It's very rare for the royal family to call for us this suddenly."

The red-head shook her head. "I have no idea. To be honest, I didn't even know that Father did deal with guilds."

The ginger made a pout as she continued to walk. "The way you are saying it… It was as if we were bad people like thieves or spies."

Maki chuckled. "I originally thought you were all the same; hunters, mercenaries, spies, thieves: only money count and nothing else." She took a pause, looking up at the starry sky, stopping her steps. The ginger also stopped and mimicked the taller girl's action. "But now I realize how wrong I was." A smile appeared on the red-head's face. "You are different."

There was a moment of silence as the two young guild members continued to stare at the moon until the ginger's senses tingled. With a brusque movement, she grabbed Maki by the wrist and jumped forward, out of the bridge. Without the red-head being able to react though, a loud boom occurred as the bridge they were formerly at exploded.

"Wha-what was that?"

Meanwhile, from a hill not far from the duo were several figures that were hiding in the shadow. One of these figures was holding a large gun-cannon. The other figure beside them chuckled. "Looks like you missed~"

The gunner scoffed. "They were just lucky. Next time, I won't miss."

"Big mouth talks a lot." Another person spoke before grabbing the large blade sword from their back and jumped forward without saying any word.

Another figure sighed. "Jeez! Please stop fighting each others. How about eliminating our target first?"

Back to Honoka and Maki, they were fast to stand up and grabbed their weapons, backing each others while looking around. "From where did that attack came from?" The fact it was nighttime didn't help them as any ambush might be dangerous. There was only the two of them so a group of expert might easily take them down.

Not long after, a sole cloak-clad figure landed not far from the duo. The ginger quickly got in a defensive pose. "Who are you?"

The figure didn't say a word and instead just rushed forward, swinging their massive weapon. Honoka has decided to also charge as she saw she won't be able to talk. She attempted to slash her opponent but the mysterious person blocked it with their own weapon. It however was a ruse as Honoka quickly rotated her sword, jumped and kicked the aggressor, sending them two feet backward. As soon as she landed, the ginger kicked the ground and rushed forward, attempting another slash.

This times, her attack hit her opponent but she felt metal instead of flesh. The swordmaster quickly jumped back and got in a defensive position. The mysterious individual took the opportunity to rush forward and swing their weapon. Said blade was massive, especially compared to the wielder's body size.

Honoka blocked the attack and the two weapons collided. The force of the impact made the ginger back of a feet though but she was fast to recover, quickly doing an upperslash. Her attack did hit once again but she felt something metallic protecting her enemy.

While that was going on, Maki has decided to chant a spell and a magic circle appeared on the ground beneath her. Her hands then started to glow in an orange light. "Honoka; stand back!" She shouted and her comrade obeyed, jumping to the side while the young Princess aimed at the opponent and threw a fireball.

The attack hit the enemy and the ball exploded several times until flames were surrounding the individual. The red-head let go of a sigh, thinking that it was over but was fast to regret it as the enemy ran out of the flames and rushed in her direction. Fortunately, Honoka was fast enough to get in front of her friend and placed her glowing sword in front of her. **"Shieldbarier!"**

The enemy's attack collided with the barrier spell casted by the sword master and was knocked back, their weapon flying several feet away. The ginger took the opportunity to rush at the individual and jumped into the sky. With the moon behind her, the sword user kicked the air and aimed for the opponent at full speed.

Her attack did hit and this time, she felt cracking metal, meaning that the thing that was protecting the mysterious individual was weakening. She then jumped back before the enemy could counter and landed beside her partner. The two of them watched at the cloak-clad figure slowly stood up and placed their hand in front of them. The massive blade soon flew back to its owner like a metal attracted by a magnet.

The mysterious person prepared for another attack and rushed forward. Honoka got in a defensive position as Maki was ready to cast another spell if necessary. However, before another engagement happened a loud boom occurred in the area in between them, leaving a crack on the soil. Both side turned to the newcomer responsible of the explosion land on the clear area not far from there. Several other cloak-clad figures land behind them.

Honoka bit her lower lip, getting once again in a defensive position as her comrade joined her hands, ready to cast an offensive spell anytime soon. However, instead of attacking, one of the mysterious figures stepped closer. They were not holding anything that might be called a weapon but the duo weren't planning on lowering their guard.

"Sister…?"

The ginger was taken aback by the sudden familiar voice. She knew that voice too while and her eyes widened with horror when the cloak-clad person stopped in their track and removed their hood to reveal short ginger-red hair. Sapphire irises met with teal ones as the mysterious girl's lips formed a smile.

"Sister… It's really you. Where have you been all this time? We thought we were already dead."

Honoka's mouth was still open, making Maki restless. "Honoka…?"

"It can't be…" The ginger lowered her sword, shock still written all over her face. "Yukiho?"

The shorter girl stepped forward and ran until taking the ginger in a hug, surprising everyone else. Maki was very confused as she didn't know if she should cast Ultima spell to destroy everything or to cast Blink as to allow them to escape. However, seeing that Honoka was returning the hug without a word, she somehow got a picture in her head.

"I've missed you so much. We all thought Nozomi, Lady Umi and you were kidnapped by monsters or something like that." The younger girl started, warm tears escaping her eyes and running down her cheeks.

"Sorry…" Honoka spoke softly, her own tears threatening to come out. She was very happy to see her sister once again after years of being apart. "It's a very long story." She broke the hug and gazed directly at her sister. "That aside, would you mind telling me what are you doing with such dangerous people?"

"The dangerous person here is you!" One of the mysterious people countered. "We know about you being affiliated with the Dark Faction. We have received direct orders from the Chancellor of Otonokizaka herself to track and capture you."

"We never thought that you would so easily dupe in the Princess of Nishikino in as well though." Another of the shady individual spoke.

"Dark Faction?" Honoka questioned. "What's that? I have never heard of that before.

Yukiho took one step back and stared at her sister. She then let go of a sigh and turned to her companions. "She is telling the truth."

"But…"

"Wait one minute!" Maki interfered. "What the hell is that Faction thing about? Also, who are you guys?"

The mysterious people took glance at each others until the ginger-red-head nodded and they all removed their hood. The first one to do so was a girl with short blonde hair and innocent blue eyes. "We are members of S.I.S., an organization whose reason of existence is to fight the Dark Faction." She said, her voice reflecting her kind nature. "My name is Alisa by the way." She added with a smile.

Another one followed. She had dark raven hair attached in a pair of pigtails and crimson red eyes. "S.I.S. stands from Special Individuals fighting for the Society by the way." She continued before giving a polite bow of the head. "You can call me Kokoro." The ravenette said with a smile. "Also, I do believe in Yukiho. If she said you are innocent then I will trust her."

The figure beside Kokoro too removed their disguise. The girl was like a copy of Kokoro but with brown hair attached in a side tail instead. "Well… I guess we were a little bored since that was a while since we last got an assignment. I have to admit that I was tired of just sitting around while watching the royal knights getting all the fun and glories." She said, placing her hands behind her head and letting go of a yawn. "The name is Kokoa by the way."

Another one followed and revealed her dark-red hair. "You can call me Riko. We have been told that you were a danger for the whole Kingdom. According the Chancellor, the Dark Faction has used you as an experimental thing. Also, the told us that you constantly keep contact with them."

' _Wait a minute!'_ Maki screamed mentally. _'Could it be that the shadows that has kidnapped Honoka back then…?'_

"It was a lie." The ginger defended. "The only time I got in contact with them was when they did that freaking experience. Plus, it was against my will."

"So, you admit you have something to do with the Dark Faction?" Riko asked as she took her spellbook and readied herself.

Maki also got in a defensive position. "She said she was kidnapped and forced, meaning she is not an ally of the Dark Faction. What part of that don't you get?"

"You can never be too sure."

Yukiho sweatdropped as Alisa tried to calm their friend. "There… There… How about we calm down a little and talk peacefully around some borsch? I brought a bag full with me."

The last member, the wielder of the huge sword nodded as they removed their hood, revealing a very girly face, past-ear raven hair and crimson red eyes. He was a boy but a very girly one. Letting go of a nod, the boy walked over to the blonde and tugged on her sleeve.

Alisa smiled and turned to everyone else as to earn a nod. "See? Even Kotaro agrees."

"I guess…" Riko sighed. "However, I won't let my guard down."

"Suits yourself." Maki growled.

Honoka on the other hand just smiled awkwardly and stepped toward the small group. "I guess I'm a little hungry so let's have a little snack while putting the dots over the 'i'."

The members of the S.I.S. we still rather young, maybe between 14 to 18 years old, meaning three to five years younger than the ginger. Or at least, that what Maki had concluded.

Not long after, a fire was cast and the 8 of them gathered around it while eating something. Riko and Maki stole a glance at each others and gave an intense stare contest until Alisa and Honoka stopped them.


	5. Nightingale song

Nozomi slowed her track steps as she looked behind her. _Nothing._

Letting go of a sigh, the purple-haired fortuneteller resumed her walking, a certain Manakete not far beside her. Said ravenette watched her companion looking down from the side of her eyes. "You seem restless."

Nozomi lifted her head to look at the moon. "I have a bad feeling about this surprise assignment."

Umi looked back at her childhood friend. "What do you mean?"

"I know that since our guild has signed a contract with the King several years ago, we can't refuse any request but this one is kind of fishy…"

"Rin doesn't like fish nya." The catgirl complained as she slowed down her steps and was now beside the bluenette. "But I have to admit Miss Tsubasa didn't feel like her usual self…"

"So, you also realized?" Niko asked. Both Nozomi and Umi looked confused. The young Numan sighed before taking her left wing and slowly caressing it. "We Numans has a sharper sixth sense: the instinct. It sometimes warns us about a potential danger or something like that."

"But if it was the case," the swordmaster girl protested, "then, Nozomi should have been able to feel it as well."

The catgirl and the dragon girl both tilted their head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Umi turned to her childhood friend. "You haven't told them yet?" The response came in form of an awkward smile from the tallest one of the four. The young Lady was fast to apologize, bowing her head. "I'm sorry!"

That made Niko even more confused and curious. "What the hell is going on?"

"N-nothing…" The bluenette attempted as to try and correct her mistake but no one bought it.

"Please tell us, Nozomi nya." Rin walked beside the fortuneteller. The four of them were still continuing their trip and were in a clearer area with the ray of the moon as only light leading their way. "We promise we won't judge you." She said innocently before clinging to the taller girl's arm, pressing said arm against her (modest) chest. "Look! Even Rin and Niko are friends even though Catmen and Manakete were rumored to be mortal enemies."

Said Numan girl nodded. "Yeah! Our ancestors have fought against both the Humans and Numans alike." She said with a sad tone, slightly looking down. "The elders of our race have signed a non-aggression contract with the Catmen, Werewolves, Vampires and Ghouls but they all betrayed us at the last moment. Not long after, my race got near extinct."

"Whoa…" The catgirl let go of Nozomi's arm before slowing down. Everyone else stopped to see her looking down, her tail losing his full-of-energy-ness from earlier. "I'm sorry. It was the first time Rin has heard about that story." She said with a sad tone. "The elders have always told us that the Manakete were planning on taking over the world by attacking us so that's why they have allied with the humans."

"Don't beat yourself with it." The dragon girl spoke calmly, stepping toward her friend and lifting her face, chartreuse eyes meeting with crimson. "That was 'them'! Now, it is 'us'. I consider Rin as a friend no matter what our ancestors have done."

There was a brief moment of silence as Rin's lips slowly formed a smile. That was until a certain bluenette screamed "Shameless" and then averted her eyes. Nozomi on the other hand was pouting. "Jeez! And I thought I was Niko's soulmate… Yet, now you go on and flirt with Rin all of sudden." She teased dramatically.

"Jeez!" The Manakete rolled her eyes, her left hand reaching for Rin's right one and faced forward, starting to walk, dragging the catgirl in the process. "And I had to swallow my pride to tell these embarrassing lines…" She said, avoiding eye contact with everyone, her cheeks slightly pink. "Nozomi is an idiot!"

"Hehe! My bad." The fortuneteller chuckled before placing a hand on Umi's shoulder and resumed their walk. "It was just that I was so surprised by Niko's action. I never thought you'd be this good friend."

' _Well… That's because I don't have that many friend.'_ The Manakete thought before turning back to the taller girl. "Anyway, are you going to tell us what you really are?"

"?" The purplenette was taken by surprise. She has completely forgotten about all this and didn't know how to reply. She just looked at the horizon and gave a weak smile. "I will tell you all when the right time comes. For now, I will ask you to just believe in me."

"What is that? I don't get anything nya…"

"Please just believe in her." Umi insisted, her face reflecting seriousness.

Niko just sighed before turning back forward. "I guess I can believe in you…" She was still holding hand with the catgirl while Nozomi and her childhood friend were linking arms behind them; the bluenette's face flushing red. The Manakete let go of another sigh, her eyes glued to the horizon. "I wonder what's taking them this long."

"You mean Maki and Honoka?"

She nodded. "Knowing them, they should have already been able to catch on us."

The fortuneteller looked at her with a serious look. "What do you think? Should we go back on our steps?"

"No. We can't afford to trail." Umi said. "I do believe in Honoka. Nothing will happen to her." She then let go of a sigh. "Also, remember that Miss Tsubasa has told us to be at the royal palace before dawn. We will never make it at the current speed." She said before breaking the arm-linking with her friend and placed a hand on her saber's tip. "We have to hurry up!"

Nozomi, Rin and Niko nodded before they all got in position. The Manakete girl spread her wings as the catgirl got on all four and the fortuneteller joined her hands.

Umi closed her eyes for a second until a magic circle appeared beneath her. Second later, her boots were shining and she started running with a very fast speed. **"Turbo!"**

Nozomi chanted a spell and her feet rose from the soil, her body levitating before she went after her blue-haired friend. **"Counter-gravity!"**

Rin didn't need any spell and so did Niko as the catgirl started to run at a speed that matched the swordmaster and the dragon girl flew, following them. It didn't take them long before reaching a deserted wasteland and continued to run/fly past it, hopping that they will reach their destination before dawn.

[-x-x-x-]

Honoka and Maki were walking alongside the other group. They were done talking and concluded something bad was going on. The group of six teenagers was assigned on a mission to capture and defeat the ginger girl because of an unknown source.

"So, in other words, you just received orders without any explanation?"

Yukiho nodded at her sister's question. The two of them were walking side by side while Riko was walking ahead of them and the other red-head was behind everyone else.

"Our group was put in place for secret SS-rank missions." The girl explained. "We were previously sent to stop a revolt at a nearby town but this thing about capturing one single person is very odd, I must admit."

Riko watched from over her shoulder, still not trusting. "I can feel a dark aura around her."

Alisa nodded. "That might be true I can also feel it but something still feel off."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel as if there is a beast inside her but she is able to tame it."

Everyone else stopped walking at these words. Honoka looked down while her companion gave a worried look and so did her sister. "Sis…"

"That's true." The ginger said after a moment of pause. "I have a demon inside of me."

That was a cue for Riko, Kotarou, Kokoa and Kokoa to grab their weapons and pointed at Honoka. However, before anyone could do anything, she lifted her head and gave a reassuring smile.

"No worry about it though! I have tamed it a while ago."

The younger red-head had mixed thoughts as she lowered her gun. "That might be true but we had a mission." She said coldly while starting to walk again.

They were walking back to the capital of Otonokizaka. Maki thought showing resistance will only bring bad things so she just quietly followed. Yukiho was in the same state of mind as she wanted to justify her sister in front of the court and prove that Honoka has done nothing bad.

It didn't take them long before reaching the capital. It was still night and the roads were deserted. It was the perfect occasion to advance as fast as possible to the royal castle. They took the rear entrance and advanced until reaching a dark hallway.

"This place gives me chill…" Maki commented.

Riko just eyed at her without stopping and they soon arrived in front of a door. Pushing it open, the found themselves in a large room lit by several candles at the side. At the center of the room was a large table in which a young girl with silvery ash hair and wearing an elegant dressed was writing on some paper.

"Kotori…"

Said girl lifted her head and a smile quickly appeared on her face as she stood up. "Maki! What are you doing here? I heard that you have fled the Kingdom. I hope nothing bad happened to you."

The red-haired princess just smiled. Honoka on the other hand, tilted her head. "You know each others?"

That was a cue for the dress-clad girl to introduce herself. "My apologizes! The name is Kotori. I am the Princess of Otonokizaka and a friend of Maki."

"Friend?"

"I wouldn't go that far." The tsundere princess commented, starting to play with a tip of her hair. "We have just met few times. That's all."

Their touching conversation was short-lived though as the sound of someone clearing their throat from behind caught their attention. They all turned to see a woman with raven black hair cut above the shoulders and bloody red irises.

Honoka instantly started to tremble for an unknown reason as she felt a scary aura coming from the woman. _'W-what is this feeling…?'_

Maki was surprised by her friend. She saw Honoka being petrified instantly while no one else has noticed. A question popped into her head but she didn't have the occasion to say anything as Kokoa, Kokoro and Kotarou ran to the woman and hugged her.

"We're back!"

"You did a good job!" The woman replied, giving a smile and returning the hug, patting the young boy's head. She slightly looked up though and her eyes met a pair of sapphire blue ones. The ginger fighter flinched as her knees abandoned her, her butt falling on the cold stone floor. Everyone else was surprised at that and the newcomer just giggled. "Oh my. What a nasty little girl we have here…"

"Honoka!" Maki grabbed her friend's hand but she wasn't replying. Her eyes turned dull as her mind went blank, making the young princess even more anxious. "Honoka! What's wrong? Answer me!"

Even the others have started to get nervous at that. Kotori turned to the woman. "What is the meaning of this, Chancellor?"

The woman merely chuckled as she let go of her children. "She has been corrupted by the darkness. Her soul can't be saved anymore." She stepped closer to Honoka but Maki stepped in, blocking her from advancing. "Oh my. Isn't it the young Princess of Nishikino? May I ask what are you doing here, Princess Maki?"

The red-head gritted her teeth. "Chancellor Yazawa… What have you done to Honoka?"

"Nothing, really." The madwoman replied casually with a smile. "Like I said, the darkness in her heart was just too important that she couldn't stand the holy barrier spell on this place."

"Bullshit!" Maki countered.

"Oh my! What a nasty mouth you have here, Princess." Yazawa was not amused at all and eyed at the other princess. "Lady Kotori; please bring your friend to your room for now." Turning to the six younger individuals, she also chuckled. "The rest of you may dispose."

"But-"

Yukiho's words were cut as a needle flew next to her ear. The Chancellor didn't look very happy that her subordinate would counter her words. "I said that you may dispose."

The young girl nodded at that and the six of them left the room. By that point, even Riko was starting to think that something was off. Kotori also approached her friend. "Maki, let us go to my room."

"No." The red-head didn't budge as she stubbornly glared at the woman.

"Oh my. Things might become difficult if you are that stubborn, dear."

"What are you planning to do with Honoka?"

"I am going to liberate her." The woman said while picking a needle from her pocket and moved at a supersonic speed, getting behind Maki. Before the later could do anything, she planted the needle on the back of her neck. Not long after, she fell on the floor.

"Oh my god! Maki!" Kotori ran to her friend, catching her before she totally fell.

"Do not worry though." Yazawa continued as she picked an unconscious Honoka in a bridal carry. "I just injected a drug that made her sleep for a while. That will not kill her."

"But…"

"You don't want anything to happen to your mother, right?" The woman's tone of voice was a very dark one as she asked that threatening question.

The young princess gritted her teeth and looked down, looking sad before yielding. "I will take Maki to my room."

The reply came in form of a smile. "Also, what has occurred tonight has never happened, right?" She added, walking past the gray-haired girl. "You know what that means right? No witness."

With a heavy heart, Kotori nodded as a tear fell on her cheek before lifting her friend and walking toward her room. It was not that far from there and she installed Maki on her bed, covering her well. The room was a very large one with pillows and girly plush placed on the nearby shelves. One single thing was off though; it was a large axe with a very sharp tip that rested against the nearest wall.

Letting go of a sigh, the young brunette opened her closet and changed into a black tank top, short shorts and a pair of battle boots. Since it was cold, she wore an oversized jacket and grabbed the axe before walking out of her room.

[-x-x-x-]

"I don't know what to do anymore now." Yukiho sighed.

The six of them were camping at a nearby forest after the Chancellor sent them off. Alisa was trying to comfort her friend when Riko was sitting on a nearby rock. "Was that really the best thing to do?"

Their team was built so they could clear SS-rank mission. The six of them was the elite among the elite on the Kingdom and were working under the direct order of the Chancellor.

It was a quiet night… though; such quietness was short-lived as the wind slightly blew. Their current location was far from the capital but thanks to their super-speed spells, they have managed to get there very fast.

Kokoro, who was leaning against a nearby tree felt a presence and grabbed her spear. "Something is coming this way!"

"What?"

The others also picked their weapon, a large gun for Kokoa, a large blade sword for Kotaro, a riffle for Riko, a wand for Alisa and a scythe for Yukiho. "Who goes there?"

The figure was revealed to be Kotori who was holding the large axe with one hand without giving any sign of exhaustion. She had a blank look on her eyes while slowly approaching the group.

"What's wrong, Princess?" The blonde asked, worriedly.

A tear fell from the brunette's eye. "I'm sorry, everyone."

"What?"

Unfortunately, Kokoro's question wasn't answered as the axe wielder charged at them with a superhuman speed and strength. She downslashed and the five other girls avoided by the side. The young boy was caught in the attack and got his cape totally destroyed, revealing few black scales on his body. No need to mention the ground beneath was totally ravaged.

Kotori didn't stop as she swung her weapon and hit the swordsman at full force. Kotaro cringed and grimaced as he was sent against a large rock. He saw the opponent charging in his direction and smashing another time, destroying the large rock. Following that, the ravenette just fell unconscious on the ground.

"What the hell?"

The sisters charged at the Princess after seeing their brother on the floor. The gunner aimed and fired but none of her beams did hit. Kotori just turned into their direction and raised her weapon to block Kokoro's spear attack from above. The raven-haired girl gritted her teeth as she made several backflips. Kokoa took the opportunity to shoot several other rounds.

One of her fire hit their enemy but their hopes were short-lived as the young girl escaped from the smoke unscattered and aimed for her attacker. The brunette blocked by putting both hands in front but received a heavy and powerful punch, sending her flying. She didn't stop there as Kotori jumped above her and landed a combo of hard hit before kicking her from above, having her enemy land aggressively. The princess then crossed her arms as wind formed around her. **"Sky dragon's roar…"**

The wind rushed at Kokoa at once but Alisa quickly saved her before it hit her. The blonde has casted a barrier spell and quickly dragged the wounded girl away. Kokoro and Yukiho took the opportunity to attack at once from two different directions. **"Grand fall!"**

" **Life drains!"**

Kotori easily stopped both attacks with her weapon as she swung it. The spearwoman was sent flying while the scythe wielder got smashed on the hard ground. Kokoro instantly returned as she pointed her weapon downward, aiming for the Princess. **"GRAND FALL!"**

This time, she didn't miss and the gray-haired girl was knocked several feet. She was fast to recover though. On the other hand, Kotaro and Yukiho were already K.O. Alisa held her weapon tightly. "What is the meaning of this, Princess?"

Kotori gave a sad smile. "I am sorry but I need to do this for the sake of this country. Please forgive us, okay?"

Alisa was left speechless while Kokoa wasn't that pleased. "Don't screw with us!" She fired but it was easily avoided.

Riko continued with a barrage of fire but the gray-haired girl charged again, jumping high and holding her weapon tightly. The red-head gritted her teeth. "What the hell is going on in here?"

"I'm really sorry but the Chancellor wants you six to stay quiet forever."

"But why?"

Alisa's question was unanswered as the Princes just swung her weapon. **"Beatdown!"** She made a downslash that hit the magic user at full force, knocking her in the process.

Kotori just stood up and watched as the three remaining girls regrouped. "Damn! How come she is that strong?" The brunette cursed.

"I knew that the Princess was very strong but that point is to ridicule." Riko added.

"But now we can conclude that something fishy is truly happening."

Kotori just charged another time and engaged a skirmish against the three girls. Meanwhile, Yukiho slightly opened her eyes and felt her body was unable to move. All she could do was to watch her friends being defeated one by one by the puppet Princess. _'Sis…'_

[-x-x-x-]

Honoka returned into her sense and opened her eyes to find herself in a dungeon. Her wrists and ankles were chained as she was forced in a standing position against a wall, only clad in her underwear. "W-what?"

A chuckle could be heard and she looked up to see Yazawa sitting on a nearby chair. "Took your time to return to yourself."

"What do you want?" Honoka glared at the woman.

The response came in form of a chuckle. Instead of replying with words, dark smokes erupted from her and her appearance totally changed.

The ginger was speechless and surprised, scared. "W-what is the meaning of this?"

In front of her was a person that really looked like her. The fake Honoka was giving a sweet smile. "Do you remember us?"

At the words 'us', eight other figures stepped out of the shadow and Honoka could only watch in horror. "What is this…? Are you the Dark Faction?"

"Bingo!" 'Nozomi' said happily. "I am glad you remember us!"

"You might have escaped us back then but you have nowhere to run now." 'Umi' continued.

The ginger gritted her teeth. "What happened to the true Chancellor?"

"She has joined the other of her race." 'Kotori' explained with a sweet smile.

"What do you mean?"

"She is a manakete." 'Rin' said while taking a step closer to their captive. "And most manakete are already dead so I guess you are smart enough to understand the rest, Ho-no-ka~" She licked the ginger's cheek, making her cringe.

"Stop doing that while using my friend's appearance!"

"But we are not stealing your appearance." 'Umi' countered. "We are the real selves while the nine of you are fakes."

The ginger didn't know how to respond. She just remained quiet for a good minute before asking her next question. "What are your true motives?"

"World domination." The fake Honoka replied.

"End of humanity." The gray-haired girl beside her continued.

"Becoming 'God'." came 'Umi's reply.

"Why…?"

The fake Eli chuckled at their captive's question. "It is too early to reveal it yet. For now, you will be held in this prison while the nine of us gather the fragments of the philosopher's stone."

"Why me…?"

"You are the key toward the future." 'Hanayo' replied, munching on a riceball. "Among the humans we have captured, your life force is by far the strongest and most pure one. It was too bad you have managed to escape us the first time. It took us years before finding you again."

"Also, your little friend has helped us a lot." The catgirl doppelganger added cheerfully, her tail swaying in all directions. "We have brainwashed her so much that we have managed to input a magic censor inside her. It was thanks to her that we could have easily tracked you down."

"The mission they were sent to was just a dummy by the way." 'Maki' added. "Right now, they are just wasting their time waiting at the border while not knowing that their friend was held captive here."

"What about Yukiho?"

The fake fortuneteller chuckled. "Right now, the true Kotori should be dealing with them~ She might not look like it but she is really strong~"

The brunette beside her smiled happily. "My doppelganger is without any doubt the strongest out there. Thank god we held her mother as well as other council members and thousands of civil hostages to keep her under our grasp."

"So, that's why…?"

"Aye, nya!"

"What are you planning for me then?"

There was a moment of pause before the manakete gave a smug grin. "You'll know soon enough when we find the three remaining fragments of the philosopher's stone. All I can guarantee is that you won't survive the ritual we will hold. I just hope that you are used to the cold, dark, loneliness and grief because you're going to swim in a pool of that when we will be done with you."

"Nico." 'Eli' stopped her before turning a smile to their prisoner. "Anyway, for now, you will be staying here." She said before walking back into the shadow.

Everyone else followed and soon, Honoka was left alone. She looked down. _'Everyone… please be careful.'_

[-x-x-x-]

Umi, Nozomi, Rin, Nico, Eli and Hanayo were at a fort at the Nishikino-Otonokizaka border. They were fed with all kind of information about the possibility of the revolution leader attacking the place. It was almost dawn though and nothing has happened yet.

The fortuneteller was sitting on a bench while the petite manakete was using her lap as a pillow. "Something is not okay…"

"Speak, woman." Nico inquired, not even bothering to open her eyes. Nozomi's stroking of her hair was calming her despite her refusal.

"I have a feeling like something grave has happened to Honoka and Maki…"

"So, I'm not the only one." Umi added as she walked toward the two of them. Hanayo and her were back from patrolling and had nothing to report. "They should have already returned. Also, it's so quiet around here. What is going on?"

"A trap?"

The blonde saw the group's gathering and walked in their direction. "Trap or not, we were assigned to protect this fort at any cost and we will follow that duty."

Letting go of a sigh, the others nodded. Nico took the occasion to stand up and stretched letting go of a yawn as she stepped toward the nearest window. The room they were in was a very large one and in a mess. Gazing outside, she watched as the first ray of the sun was appearing at the horizon.

' _Maki… Honoka…'_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yu: We didn't really die, didn't we? Right?
> 
> Ko: I don't know.
> 
> Ni: But Honoka might as well kiss goodbye to her upcoming screentime.
> 
> Ho: W-what do you mean?
> 
> Ri: It was nice meeting you, Honoka-nya. It's so unfortunate to die this young but it can't be helped *sniff* *fake crying*
> 
> Ho: W-what? I'm not going to die though! I am the protagonist after all.
> 
> Ha: It's such a tragic end. The protagonists who sacrifice herself to save her friends…
> 
> Ho: Wait! Even Hanayo-chan?
> 
> Ma: The preview is too long.
> 
> El: That's right!
> 
> No: All right! Next time on Cute Knight, "The butterflies danced that night"
> 
> Ho: Hey, am I really going to die?
> 
> Ni: Please do not miss the next episode!
> 
> Ho: Please stop ignoring meeee… It's Nico-chan's role to get ignored.
> 
> Ni: What the…?
> 
> Ha, Yo & Ri: See you next time (nya)!

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: This was imported from my FFN (Fanfiction dot net) account (YayaSamuko / ID: 7813646). Please visit http://www.fanfiction.net/u/7813646 for more stories.


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